Engineering Mathematics and Computation APL703

Department of Applied Mechanics

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Arjun Sharma

Problem Set 1 solutions (Due Date: August 17, 2023)

(1) (5 points)
Consider a plane surface expressed as, 2x1 + 3x2 + x3 − 5 = 0.
(a) Find the components of the unit vector, n b , normal to the surface.
b b e1 is in the x2 − x3
(b) Find unit vectors, e1 and e2 , which are tangent to the surface, such that b
plane.
Solution:
(a) If a surface is given as, f (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = 0, the unit surface normal at some point on the surface
is obtained by,

∇f
n
b=
|∇f |

For the given surface, f (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = 2x1 + 3x2 + x3 − 5 = 0, hence,

∇f 1
n
b= = √ (2, 3, 1)
|∇f | 14

(b) The unit vectors be1 and b

e2 are tangent to the surface and hence perpendicular to n
b . Suppose
e1 in x2 −x3 plane has
the unit vector √ 2 2
b √ components (0, u21, u3 ). Then 3u2 +u3 = 0 and u2 +u3 = 1.
Thus, u2 = 1/ 10 and u3 = −3/ 10. Hence b e1 = √10 (0, 1, −3). The other unit vector b e2 is
obtained by taking cross product of unit vectors, n b and be1 ,

b b×b
e2 = n e1
1
= √ (−5, 3, 1)
35

The unit vectors in opposite direction to b

e1 and b
e2 are also correct answers.

(2) (10 points)

(a) A surface is described by the relation, x2 + y 2 /4 = z − 1. Find a parametric representation
in terms of parameters (u, v) using sine and cosine functions. Find an expression for the normal
unit vector at any given point on the surface using the parametric representation. Find the area
of the surface between z = 0 and z = 5 using the parametric representation.
(b) Show that the parameter curves u = constant and v = constant on a surface r(u, v) are
orthogonal if and only if ru · rv = 0 (see section 10.5 in the textbook).
Solution:

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Engineering Mathematics and Computation APL703

(a) The parametric representation, r(u, v) = [x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v)] = [u cos v, 2u sin v, u2 +1], is
observed to satisfy the surface equation, x2 +y 2 /4 = z −1. The left side, u2 cos2 v +u2 sin2 v = u2
equals the right side, z − 1 = u2 . The unit normal is given as,

∇f
n
b= where f = x2 + y 2 /4 − z + 1
|∇f |
1  y 
=q 2xbi + bj − k
b
2 2
4x2 + y4 + 1
In terms of parametric representation,
ru × rv
n
b=
|ru × rv |
ru × rv = (cos v, 2 sin v, 2u) × (−u sin v, 2u cos v, 0)
1  
b=√
n 2u cos vbi + u sin vbj − k
b
1 + u2 + 3u2 cos2 v

The surface area between between z = 0 and z = 5 is given by,

Z 2π Z 2
Area = |ru × rv |dudv
0 0
Z 2π Z 2 p
= 2u 1 + u2 + 3u2 cos2 vdudv
0 0
Z 2π Z 4p
= 1 + w + 3w cos2 vdwdv, w = u2
0 0
≈ 58.5 (numerically integrated)

(b) The position vector of a point on the surface is given by, r(u, v). The change in the position
along the surface is given by, dr = ru du + rv dv. If u = constant, the direction of change in
position is along the tangent vector, ru . If v = constant, the direction of change in position is
along the tangent vector, rv . The two tangent vectors are orthogonal if ru · rv = 0.

(3) (10 points)

(a) If a n × n matrix Q is orthogonal, is the same true for Q3 ? Explain briefly.
(b) Suppose the matrices in P Q = U▽ U△ are given by

     
0 1 0 0 0 0 1 −3 1 0 0 0 2 −1 4 2
1 0 0 0 2 −1 4 2  0
    1 0  0 0 1 −3
0  
 =
0 0 0 1 4 −2 9 1  1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 1 0 2 −1 5 −1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

(i) What is the rank of matrix Q?

(ii) What is a basis for the row space of Q?
(iii) (True or False) Rows 1, 2, 3 of Q are linearly independent.
(iv) What is a basis for the column space of Q?
(v) What is the general solution to Qx = 0?
Solution:
(a) Since Q is orthogonal, QQT = I, where I is the identity matrix. Multiplying by Q from the
left side gives, Q2 QT = Q. Further multiplying by QT from the right side gives, Q2 (QT )2 =

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Engineering Mathematics and Computation APL703

QQT = I. Multiplying again by Q and QT from the left and right sides, respectively, gives,
Q3 (QT )3 = Q3 (Q3 )T = I. Hence, Q3 is orthogonal.
(b) (i) The rank of Q is the same as the rank of the upper triangular part, U△ . The number of
non-zero rows in U△ is 2, so rank(Q) = 2. The matrix which pre-multiplies Q is the permutation
matrix which only changes the row positions and leaves the rank unchanged.
(ii) A basis for row space of Q is {(2, −1, 4, 2)T , (0, 0, 1, −3)T }.
(iii) False since rank(Q) = 2.
(iv) The row reduction process for QT gives two independent vectors. A basis for column space
is {(1, 4, 9, 5)T , (0, 1, 2, 1)T }.
(v) The dimension of nullspace of Q is 2. The vectors in the nullspace satisfy 2x1 −x2 +4x3 +2x4 =
0 and x3 − 3x4 = 0. Correction: The general solution of Qx = 0 is a linear combination of the
bases vectors, given by, x = c1 (1, 2, 0, 0)T + c2 (0, 14, 3, 1)T , where c1 and c2 are scalar constants.